[Serialized Novel] "Lute of the North Wind" Episode 36

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Episode 36: The Dragon's Secret Legend (1)
[June 17th]
It has been one week since the emergency response headquarters began operations.
The only progress made is that cots have been brought into the arena at Kagami-no-Mori Green Park to serve as a patient intake facility, and JMAT has taken over medical duties from DMAT. There is nothing but symptomatic treatment with oxygen administration, no effective breakthrough has been presented, and there is no sign of the lockdown being lifted.
However, as long as one does not leave the city, going out is free, and no restrictions have been placed on civic life. Most of the transport of daily necessities is handled by C-2 transport aircraft from the Kagamihara Base. While individual logistics are cut off, goods are collected at Komaki Base and transported to Kagamihara by C-2. The day after the lockdown was announced, there was a panic-buying frenzy where products disappeared from supermarket shelves, but once it was understood that goods would arrive as usual, the confusion subsided. A series of eerily quiet days continued, broken only by the sirens of ambulances and the roar of C-2s.
The thread of the "Dragon's Secret Legend" was broken at her great-grandmother Fusae, and Rei was at a loss.
I have to do something. Only impatience gnaws at Rei. For now, I'll look up place names with "Dragon" in them. Or rather, I couldn't think of anything else.
I searched the internet, but nothing of note came up. Even when I asked an AI about the "Dragon's Secret Legend," it was treated as a game item, and opinions on it being a rare item were presented. I searched through every document I could find in the local history room of the municipal library, but they were all relatively new, such as the town's history as a base town and post-war reconstruction; old documents had been burned or scattered during the Kagamihara air raids and no longer existed.
Only in one book, "Kagamihara Topography," did I find a description of the Dragon God legend.
According to it, "A dragon died in this land, and the tears it shed became Mirror Pond, which is why this place came to be called Kagamihara." It is an interesting legend, but there was no mention of the crucial Dragon People or the Dragon's Secret Legend. An elderly librarian advised me that I should ask the Civil Engineering Division at City Hall about the Ryuga-do Tunnel. I eagerly visited the Civil Engineering Division, but only records of the tunnel construction remained. When I asked the Tourist Association if there were any inscriptions related to dragons, they recommended, "This whole area used to be the sacred grounds and guardian forest of Ryugen Shrine, so why don't you ask the chief priest directly about old things?"
With one failure after another, Rei's feelings grew as stagnant as the sky.
As always, no matter how much I talk to the fish in the sky, they do not answer.
I tied my instrument case to the back of my bicycle, cut diagonally through the residential streets, and headed for Ryugen Shrine at the foot of Mount Kagami. There was no one in town, and since trains pass through Kagamihara non-stop, there was no one on the platforms. Watching the trains speed by, tears welled up at the reality of the lockdown. It's like being locked in a prison. Like Alcatraz Island I saw in an old movie. Even though I haven't committed a crime, will I be kept here and left to wait for death?
I parked my bicycle beside the first torii gate.
The approach to the shrine building is a long stone staircase, the trees on both sides have shed their leaves, and the red, dark sky can be seen through them. I pass through the third torii gate. The camphor tree beside the purification fountain has also shed its leaves. Even so, perhaps because the area behind the main hall leads to Mount Kagami, there are many fish of the sky here. Some even peck at the instrument case Rei is carrying on her back. Do they want me to play?
"Oh, are you one of them too?"
A shrine priest in a white top and purple hakama stopped sweeping in front of the worship hall and looked back.

When I said I wanted to ask the chief priest something at the shrine office, he called out to the priest in the purple hakama, "Father, this young lady wants to hear your story." The top of his head was thinning and there were several age spots on his cheeks, but his back was straight and he looked strong enough to be called middle-aged.
"Was there someone else who asked about the Dragon's Secret Legend?"
Rei's voice jumps an octave.
If there is someone who knows the Dragon's Secret Legend, maybe I can learn something if I meet them. My heartbeat quickens at the unexpected turn of events.
"Just yesterday, too."
"Could you tell me who it is?"
"I wonder if it's okay to give out personal information."
The chief priest tilts his head in trouble.
"Where are you from, miss?"
"I'm Rei Kohada from the Kohada Clinic in Nakamachi."
"Dr. Kohada's daughter, are you?"
The woman who guided me tugs on the chief priest's sleeve and whispers, "Should we contact Mr. Hokudo?"
"Hokudo?" Rei raises her voice.
"Do you know him?"
"Kotono Hokudo is my great-grandmother."
"Aya-chan's granddaughter? Then there's nothing to worry about," he says, beaming.
"I just returned the Dragon's Secret Legend to Kunikazu-san."
"Returned it?"
It was when I was about to ask back.
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
My smartphone rang. It's my mother.
"Rei-chan, where are you?"
"Ryugen Shrine."
"Uncle Kunikazu says the Dragon's Secret Legend has been found. And Grandmother wants to hear the wind harp. Do you have the wind harp? Well, I'm coming to pick you up. Wait at the bottom of the stone steps."
"Mom, I'm on my bicycle..."
Without waiting for Rei's reply, her mother hung up the phone after conveying the message. She probably wants to return before the afternoon clinic. She must already be starting the car engine.
"I'm sorry. Excuse me."
I said with such intensity I almost bit my tongue, and turned my back. The wind harp slung over my shoulder hit my hip.
"Give my regards to Kunikazu-san."
At the chief priest's voice, Rei turned back, gave a perfunctory bow, and ran down the stairs, skipping steps.

To be continued